rootsandculture

  In the summer of 1989, the then President of Guyana, Hon. Desmond Hoyte, attended the opening of an art exhibition hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. The exhibit featured two Guyanese, Dudley Charles and Gary Thomas, who were selected from submissions from across the Americas. President Hoyte had little knowledge of how this exhibition happened or that of his own government's role in withholding support to the artists’ proposal. President Hoyte was in Washington, D.C., meeting with President Bush and various bank presidents in an attempt to reposition Guyana within the US neoliberal sphere and away from the failed socialist experiments of former President, Forbes Burnham. From all accounts it was a pleasant and timely surprise to be invited to the opening of an exhibition of high quality art by Guyanese and in the capital city of his hosts. It was a welcome surprise for Roots and Culture Gallery too and some validation of its collection as well as t...